A cerebral aneurysm is a weakening of the neurovascular wall that allows localized dilation and ballooning of the artery. Aneurysms are susceptible to rupturing due to wall thinning, which causes an intracranial hemorrhage. It is estimated that 30,000 aneurysms rupture in the United States every year and approximately 3-5 million people in America have or will develop an aneurysm in their lifetime. Current aneurysm treatments include surgical clipping and the endovascular delivery of platinum coils to embolize the aneurysm. Surgical clipping includes a craniotomy and although proven effective, is extremely invasive. An endoscopic endonasal approach for aneurysm clipping has been successful, but it is also fairly invasive and requires pedicled nasoseptal flap reconstruction after the aneurysm clipping.
Endovascular embolization is now the preferred treatment for many patients. The current standard for embolization utilizes platinum coils to occlude the aneurysm and promote thrombogensis. Issues with platinum coils include material cost and a significant incidence of recanalization and retreatments due to coil packing over time. Hydrogel coated platinum wires were developed to reduce aneurysm recurrence rates and are the intermediary device between the platinum coil embolism treatments and shape memory polymer (SMP) coated treatments.